A text message warning recipients to pay outstanding traffic ticket fees or risk a variety of penalties including license suspension, an advertise impact to their credit report and even prosecution is nothing more than a phishing scam seeking to steal personal information.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly said he himself received the text message, and has been told by numerous other local residents, including several who approached him one recent Sunday at church, that they have, too. A number of people responding to a Sun-Sentinel Facebook post about the scam said they had received the text message multiple times.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) has said it is aware of the scam targeting individuals.
One form of the message begins, “Mississippi Department of Vehicles (DMV) Final Notice” and notes, among other things, that the DMV may “transfer to a toll booth and charge a 35% service fee.” It includes a link to a website that includes the partial address, “ms.dopsjcb.”
Mississippi does not have a Department of Motor Vehicle or toll roads, and the Mississippi DPS website is dps.ms.gov.
Anyway, officials said individuals would never be contacted via a text message to pay a fine.
Officials warned that people should not click on any links, pay any fines or provide any information based on this fraudulent text message.
